Japanese Developers Share Their 2018 Ambitions And Teasers

With 2017 coming to an end, 4Gamerhas gone up with the annual year-end talks with the developers from Arc System Works, Atlus, Capcom, Koei Tecmo, Sega, Spike Chunsoft, Square Enix, and many others.

Here are some teaser highlights from the many developers:

Arc System Works

Toshimichi Mori (Producer): “2018 is this and that BlazBlue series and… huh? What’s this…??”

Atlus

Eiji Ishida (Director/Chief Designer): “Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux released just the other day, and while I can’t say anything about the next title, I can say that we’re working hard on it!”

Capcom

Motohiro Eshiro (Producer): “I believe we’ll continue working on something that will make Ace Attorney series fans happy. We’re also currently coming up with a new title, so personally speaking I think it’ll be a challenging year.”

Takuya Yamanaka (Producer/Director): “2017 was a year of work so there was a lot we couldn’t talk about, but we’ll have more to discharge in 2018! There just might be something other than Caligula!”

Experience

Hajime Chikami (Producer): “We’re continuing development on the dungeon RPG Yomi wo Saku Hana, but we’re also planning to release a new horror adventure game that takes place in the same world of Death Mark.”

Idea Factory/Compile Heart

Makoto Kitano (Director/Producer): “Heading into 2018, I’ll be taking on a title that is completely different than everything I’ve made up until now.”

Naoko Mizuno (Producer): “We’re reading to share new information on the Neptunia series in 2018, so we’d be happy if you guys can wait a little longer.”

Koei Tecmo

Keisuke Kikuchi (Producer): “Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings made it for the Atelier series’ 20th anniversary, but we’re also preparing a new title for 2018. We’re working hard to be able to announce it soon.”

Hisashi Koijnuma (President-Director): “We plan to release a bunch of titles next year, and we’re thinking about announcing brand-new titles as well, so please look forward to it!”

Akihiro Suzuki (Producer): “In addition to the Dynasty Warriors series we’re preparing information for several others, and we’ve also started moving on with the next project.”

Akira Tsuchiya (Producer/Director/Original Plan): “Starting 2018 I’ll take on even more challenges. The announcement is still farther ahead and I can’t say much, but the plan is to further challenge more than this past year.”

Junzo Hosoi (Producer): “In addition to the Atelier series we’re planning new developments for various titles, so it’d bring us great pleasure to see your support for the Gust brand in 2018.”

Level-5

Akihiro Hino (President/CEO): “2018 will be 20 years since the founding of Level-5. We intend to create new IPs and work hard on developments, more than ever, in order to become the world’s number one entertainment brand. You guys might be curious, but we’ve began work on a 20th anniversary commemorative title. I can’t share more details for now but we’re planning to make it a huge title with packed with everything Level-5 has to offer.

Nippon Ichi Software

Sohei Niikawa (President): “Nippon Ichi Software will see its 25th anniversary in July 2018. We’re preparing several projects to be able to offer something ‘fun’ and ‘surprising’ that is fitting of the 25th anniversary. And I believe that several of those will surprise you beyond expectations (and now the hurdle is higher).”

PlatinumGames

Hideki Kamiya (Game Designer): “Next year I want to work hard on game production, not just Twitter.”

Sega

Toshihiro Nagoshi (Chief Creative Officer): “We still have some unannounced things. We have more surprises, so please look forward to it!”

Sony Interactive Entertainment

Tsutomu Kouno (Creative Director): “It’ll be a while until we can announce a new title, but in 2018 I want to announce what we’re preparing to heal the world some more! I’ll do my best!”

Ike Toriyama (Japan Studio Producer): “In 2018 we’ll have the announcement of an ambitious title, the start of a new project that is currently being planned, and new challenges. Thank you for your continued support for Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Studio.”

Masaaki Yamagiwa (Producer): “I’ve been working behind the scenes since Bloodborne, and I want 2018 to be a productive year for everything I’ve been working on. Please look forward to it.

Spike Chunsoft

Kotaro Uchikoshi (Director/Scenario Writer): “I believe that in 2018 we’ll be able to announce information on a project the Psync (tentative) project that is currently in development. It’s the best adventure game in the universe! Please look forward to it!”

Square Enix

Ryutaro Ichimura (Producer): “A new title that might be a bit of a surprise? We might be able to announce it soon, so please look forward to it!”

Yosuke Saito (Executive Officer/Executive Producer): “I think it’d be nice to have the opportunity to announce a new title sometime in 2018.”

Hajime Tabata (Director): “Next year we’ll earnestly begin a development in anticipation of the next generation. Again, the ban on side work has also been lifted, so I’d like to try something.”

Storytelling

Jiro Ishii (Game Designer/Original Work/Screenwriter/Storytelling Representative): “We have plans to announce several game titles and a new animation. Look forward to it.”

Studio Istolia

Hideo Baba (Representative Director): “I want to continue working hard to deliver the new IP that is currently in development as soon as possible, so please look forward to what’s next.”

Team GrisGris

Makoto Kedouin (Scenario Writer/Team GrisGris Director): “We have plans not just for the Corpse Party series, but also in the middle of planning the announcement of a new title.”